The COVID-19 pandemic has stolen many rites of passage from the class of 2021, and the junior year ACT is among them. Having taken it this Tuesday, many seniors are facing the effects of a six month break from learning and senioritis; many colleges aren’t requiring the scores on applications, either. 

For many, the timing of the ACT has them in a rough spot. The extended break has left some feeling unprepared, and many feel that if they had taken the ACT at it’s intended time, they would have been able to retain more information from recent classes: “With algebra two, it just would have stuck in my brain better, but now I’m struggling to find my way around a calculator,” says Olivia Dziuba, a senior who took the ACT for the first time on Tuesday. 

There’s also the fact that colleges aren’t requiring ACT scores for admission—it plays a major role in how seniors view the test this year. Before, it was a major cornerstone in the application process, but now, not so much. “Yes, the fact that some colleges aren’t accepting ACT scores is affecting how I see the ACT,” Addy Boice, another senior on her first ACT, remarks dryly, “I view it as not as important.”

Above all, seniors just don’t feel like doing anything. “Senioritis” has afflicted senior classes for years, seeing as they’re in their final year of high school and antsy to graduate, and it leaves many of them with difficulty caring about academics. The ACT isn’t necessarily an exception. “It’s a combination of senioritis and colleges not taking it; I’m like, eh, I’m not too worried about it,” says Dziuba. 

Of course, there is no perfect way to reschedule the ACT amidst a global pandemic. One thing is for certain, however: the class of ‘21 is experiencing a senior year unlike any before.